The global shipping industry is under pressure to operate more efficiently and cut fuel costs, all while navigating tight timelines and aging fleets. With ships designed to last 25 years, many of today’s vessels will still be in operation for decades to come. To stay competitive and adapt to rising fuel prices, the industry needs solutions that deliver measurable impact now.
While many emerging technologies remain years away from commercialization, wind is abundant, free, and available worldwide today. That’s the opportunity Aloft Systems is harnessing. An alumnus of the Spring 2025 Stage 1 cohort of VentureWell Ocean Enterprise Accelerator program funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the company is pioneering a practical and efficient pathway to improve performance by developing retrofit wing sails.
We spoke with Miles Keeney-Ritchie, founder and CEO of Aloft Systems, to hear how the startup is proving the power of wind in shaping the future of maritime efficiency.
Can you tell us about your journey from robotics to bluetech, and what motivated that transition?
I was trained as a mechanical engineer, but I was always interested in renewable energy. In college, I enrolled in a robotics class and became hooked, which set me on a 12-year career designing robots and building production lines to manufacture them at scale. I worked with customers all over the world, adapting those robots to their specific needs.
It was fun and I was solving interesting problems, but I didn’t feel like I was making the impact I wanted. I had no intention of entering the maritime industry, but when I looked at where I could apply my experience in robotics and manufacturing to a sector that really needed it, shipping emerged as a huge opportunity.
The industry recognizes that it must decarbonize. Still, there aren’t many options on the table. For me, it was the perfect trifecta: a pressing challenge, a technical environment where my skills could make a difference, and the chance to bring back wind propulsion in a way that actually works for today’s crews.
Your team recently installed a sensor system on a Supramax dry bulk carrier in Dunkirk, France. Can you walk us through what that system does and why it was an important first step?
At Aloft, we’re building wing sails for cargo ships, and for them to work, they have to be automated. To do that, you need sensors that track data like wind direction and the ship’s motion and speed.
“This is a chance to bring back wind propulsion in a way that actually works for today’s crews.”—Miles Keeney-Ritchie, Aloft Systems
Before installing a full sail, we start by mounting sensors above the bridge of the ship. The system collects data over time, allowing us to model how the vessel really operates and predict how our sails would perform. The installation we performed in Dunkirk was one of those sensor stacks, sitting atop a Supramax dry bulk carrier.
When we first designed the installations, it was imperative to keep them simple and fast. We didn’t want to run wires down into the engine room or plan for anything that would turn a one-day job into months of prep, so the box we use is totally self-contained. It just needs power.
Why did you choose to start with Supramax vessels, and what makes this market so important?
We focus on Supramaxes because they’re a foothold market. Globally, there are approximately 13,000 dry bulk vessels, with roughly half being Supramax or the slightly smaller Handymax. That’s more than half of the global dry bulk fleet.
These ships are incredibly versatile—they carry everything from minerals to grain to cement. That same versatility means they’re not well served by the wind propulsion options on the market. So we’re starting there.
If we can make wind energy work for them, we open the door to nearly 30,000 vessels worldwide where wind propulsion could play a role. That’s a significant opportunity to both cut emissions and save operators money.
What kinds of critical data are your sensors tracking, and how does this information improve ship performance at sea?
The data we are most focused on is wind speed and direction, since that’s what the sails will capture. But the sensors also measure temperature, barometric pressure, GPS location, the ship’s speed, and the ship’s motion in the waves. Additionally, every vessel broadcasts an Automatic Identification System (AIS) signal—basically a digital ID required for safety purposes. We can also pull that data to understand how the ship operates in its environment.
The real data isn’t just in the raw data points. Vessel owners are always seeking to reduce fuel costs, which can make or break their operations. With our data, we can help them identify patterns, as even the most minor tweak can result in an extra trip per year, which can translate into millions of dollars in revenue.
So the sensors don’t just measure the environment—they give operators insights to run their ships faster, cheaper, and cleaner.
You’re now expanding pilot projects to additional vessels. What have you learned from working directly with crews, and what types of partners are you seeking to increase your impact?
From a football field away, all ships look the same, but once you’re on board, you notice that every vessel and crew is different. That’s one of the reasons why existing wind technology requires bespoke engineering for every single install. We’ve found that working directly with the ship’s crew is so valuable. They’ve helped us understand the realities of ship operations and provided feedback that has been incorporated directly into our designs.
On the partnership side, we’re focused on shipowners who are thinking strategically about how to operate more efficiently. With our sensor arrays, we can install a handful across a fleet, monitor them for a year, and deliver a “wind readiness report” that shows where they’ll get the best return on investment. That way, owners can make decisions with confidence before committing to a full sail installation.
Thinking back to your time in the Stage 1 VentureWell Ocean Enterprise Accelerator, what lessons or experiences most shaped the direction of Aloft Systems’ work?
One of the most valuable and surprising parts of the program was the diversity of the cohort. We had companies at different stages of growth, working across various areas of bluetech with very different business models. Even teams that looked nothing like ours pushed us to view our own challenges in new ways, which helped us reach solutions faster.
Stage 1 also provided us with the resources we needed to deploy our first sensor array on a ship, which was a significant milestone for us. VentureWell’s team also encouraged us to lean into the data side of our work, which opened up new customer conversations and uncovered opportunities we hadn’t even considered.
Looking ahead, how do you see ocean innovations like yours contributing to more efficient global shipping?
I believe to my core that addressing climate challenges requires finding physical solutions—especially in an industry as massive and essential as maritime shipping. In some ways, my answer is simple: Everyone knows there’s wind on the ocean, so why not put sails back on ships? Wind directly cuts fuel costs, and it also makes the global logistics system more resilient.
But in other ways, it’s complex. For 150 years, shipping has been optimized around outdated technology, which has locked the maritime industry into oversized vessels and deep-water ports. New propulsion types provide the opportunity to rethink and modernize that model.
If these new ships can compete economically, it could lead to a more evenly distributed logistics network, moving goods directly from where they’re produced to smaller ports closer to where they’re used. That shift would reduce costs and make the systems far more efficient and resilient. With wind, we can unlock a revolutionary logistics system—one that is built for the 21st century.
Are you an innovator developing ocean technologies that could power the blue economy? Learn more about the VentureWell Ocean Enterprise Accelerator.